Cervical spine traction apparatus

ABSTRACT

A cervical spine traction apparatus is disclosed which is used with a door and its upper frame to provide an anchor point having a harness with a pair of vertically extending load straps and a dorsal member that may be opened to admit the head of the patient with relative ease, the harness being secured to a pair of webbing members lying flat between the upper edge of the door and its mating frame while the door is closed and being laterally spaced by a crossbar secured to the loading straps, the webbing members being releasably secured to a transverse bar adapted to bear against the opposite upper face of the door from that of the harness to anchor the apparatus to the top of the door.

United States Patent 1 Dawson, Jr. et al.

[ Aug. 7, 1973 [22] Filed: Jan. 19, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 219,143

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 875,373, Nov. 10, I969,

abandoned.

52 U.S. Cl. 128/75 [51] Int. Cl A61]! l/02 [58] Field of Search I28/75, 76, 83, 84; 272779-82 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 745,856 12/1903 Janisch 128/75 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 359,838 3/1962 Switzerland l28/75 867,857 12/1941 France 128/75 OTHER PUBLICATIONS A.P.C. Application of H. E. Linthout, SN 387,749, published May 25, 1943.

Primary Examiner-Richard A. Gaudet Assistant ExaminerJ. Yasko Attorney-Kenneth D. Siegfried [5 7 ABSTRACT A cervical spine traction apparatus is disclosed which is used with a door and its upper frame to provide an anchor point having a harness with a pair of vertically extending load straps and a dorsal member that may be opened to admit the head of the patient with relative ease, the harness being secured to a pair of webbing members lying flat between the upper edge of the door and its mating frame while the door is closed and being laterally spaced by a crossbar secured to the loading straps, the webbing members being releasably secured to a transverse bar adapted to bear against the opposite upper face of the door from that of the harness to anchor the apparatus to the top of the door.

1 Claim, 5 Drawing Figures Pmmenw H915 3,7505% SHEET 1 BF 2 I INVENTORS.

W. John Dawson Jr. Mary Lou Rayburn BY Richard F. Roeffger ATTQRN FAME MIR 7 I975 SHEEI 2 BF 2 INVENTORS. W. John Dawson Jr.

Mary Lou Rayburn BY Richard F.

Roeffger I I WM;

ATTORN CERVICAL SPINE TRACTION APPARATUS This application is a continuation of Ser. No. 875,373, filed Nov. 10, 1969, now abandoned.

This invention relates to the field of traction appliances and more particularly relates to a cervical spine traction apparatus.

It is generally known that certain ailments and particularly those associated with the neck and spine are beneficially treated by the application of traction forces which are generally applied to the head. The traction is applied firmly to the head while the body remains in a desired position and use has been made of a halter or sling having a loop passing beneath the chin and another behind the base of the head opposite the chin to provide the means of securing the traction.

Certain conventional forms of orthopedic apparatus for neck traction consists of a head harness suspended by a rope over a pulley with one end of the rope connected to the head harness, generally through a spring scale to achieve the predetermined weight or through the use of a means for securing the traction for a predetermined period of time. One such apparatus is shown in the Wilhelm US. Pat No. 2,701,564. The general difficulty of using such an apparatus requires an attendant and the full cooperation of the patient to put the neck or spine of the patient in traction. The most cumbersome part of applying the traction is applying the weights which produce the traction and in such a pulley system, care must be taken to ease the load on to the pulley system to insure that the load is applied gradually to the neck or spine-of the patient rather than by merely adding additional weights of several pounds.

Another system makes use of an apparatus in such a form that a patients head is placed in a harness and a rope is secured to the harness through the use of a scale. The load is adjusted through the use of an arm which controls a torque or slip clutch device which may be actuated so as to produce small increments of tension. Such a device is shown in the Zeivi US. Pat. No.

In each of the systems which has generally been used heretofore, it will be found that certain hardware or apparatus must be secured to a wall'or must be so fixed as to allow the patient to sit in a chair and thus have the tension regulated by an attendant or through some additional apparatus controlled by the patient. Quite often, the mechanism is fairly complicated and does not produce the desired traction which is needed to improve the condition of the spine and neck.

The present invention is directed to'an apparatus which is adjustable for the height of the person and is secured over the top of a door in such a manner that the patient may use his own body weight to control the amount of traction applied. The patient may use the apparatus without additional help and can control the amount of traction applied, and generally can apply a greater amount of traction than that of the systems just disclosed and derive a greater benefit. When the patient is finished with the treatment, it is a simple matter to remove the apparatus from the door and store it until further use.

It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide an improved traction apparatus.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide a cervical spine traction apparatus that allows a patient to use the same while standing on his feet.

It is a more specific object of this invention to provide a traction apparatus which eliminates hardware that must be permanently secured to a wall or doorway.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a cervical spine traction apparatus having a harness in which the head is easil secured.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will more fully appear from the following description, made in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to the same or similar parts throughout the several views, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the invention being used by a patient;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the invention ready for use with a door;

FIG. 3 is a rear elevation of the invention ready for use with a door;

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of the means of setting the proper length for the load bearing webbing members;

FIG. 5 is a partial side elevation of the harness using a slide fastener. 1

It has been found that it is most beneficial if, when applying the traction to the spine and neck of a patient to be treated, the spine can be slightly curved'or in a bowed position and this is achieved in the instant case by having the patient face the door when the apparatus is being used. The patients feet are placed with his toes next to the door and as will be disclosed later, by bending or flexing the'knees and lowering the body to a position short of a sitting position the back achieves the rather curved shape and thus, a more beneficial result is obtained by the use of the traction device.

A traction device. 10 is formed from a harness 11 which comprises a chin member 12 that terminates at the upper portion in a pair of loading straps l3 and 14. A pair of loops l5 and 16 are formed respectively at the upper ends of loading straps l3 and 14 to admit the lower portion of a pair of D-rings or clevis members 17 and 18 respectively. Dorsal member'20 is secured approximately midway between the ends of loading straps l3 and 14 and chin member I2. Dorsal member 20 is secured to loading straps l3 and 14 by suitable means such as stitching 21, the stitching forming a triangular pattern having'sides at the top and forward edges of the ends of dorsal member 20 thus freeing the opposite edges to aid in deforming the dorsal member when fitted to the head of the patient. Harness 11 is formed from reinforced cotton felt or flannel material overlying strips of bandaging material. A slide fastener member 22 is secured transversely to the longitudinal axis of dorsal member 20 so that member 20 may be opened adjacent the left side and the head inserted between chin member 12 and the rear portion of the dorsal member. Thus, the dorsal member 20 is opened (FIG. 5) to provide additional length to be fitted around the head of a female patient in particular without disturbing the hair of the patient. Slide fastener 22 is preferably of the type that remains closed at the lower end even when the operating member opens it to its fullest extent and thus the problem of reinserting the startng members is alleviated once the person has the halter in place and is ready to close the slide fastener 22.

Clevis members 17 and 18 are formed somewhat in the shape of a triangle with the base portions having overlapping members which are spatially disposed from each other by a narrow dimension to admit and release loops l5 and 16 respectively at the ends of loading straps l3 and 14. Clevis members 17 and 18 are secured to a load spacing crossbar 23by a pair of U- shaped bracket members 24 and 25 whichare fastened to crossbar 23 by suitable means such as screws 26. While the length of loading straps 13 and 14 may vary according to the size of the halter 11, it has been found that the spacing between clevis members 17 and 18 should be approximately 14 inches to provide the proper traction without engaging the side of the face and transferring the loading to the side of the face rather than to chin member 12 and dorsal member 20.

A pair of load bearing webbing members 27 and 28 have a pair of loops formed at their bottom ends which engage crossbar 23 for support thereof. Loops 29 and 30 may be formed by suitable means such a stitching 31 and the other ends of members 27 and 28 extend through a pair of slots 32 and 33 respectively formed in a transverse bar 34. Webbing members 27 and 28 are.

doubled where they pass through slots 32 and 33 and a pair of wedges 35 and 36 are secured within the doubled webbing members and are pressed into slots 32 and 33 to releasably secure the webbing members 27 and 28 to transverse bar 34. it has been found that where webbing members 27 and 28 are approximately 30 inches in length that sufficient length is provided to accomodate most patients.

As shown primarily in P16. 1, when the apparatus is to be used, the length ofwebbing members 27 and 28 is adjusted so that there is a small amount of slack in the members when transverse bar 34 is placed over the top of a door 40. Door 40 is closed in its door frame 41 and webbing members 27 and 28 are then secured between the upper edge of door 40 and its upper frame member 42, the loose ends remaining on the other side of the door. The halter 11 is suspended from the top of door 40 so that the patient faces the door and the harness is anchored by transverse bar 34 on the .opposite side of the door. Slide fastener 22 is opened and the patients head is inserted within the harness 11 and slide fastener 22 is closed. Dorsal member 20 is disposed in the suboccipital bone region of the head and chin member 12 is placed under the frontal jaw bone so that the traction is applied evenly to the head at the back thereof and under the chin. The patient takes a position in which the feet are placed with the toes either touching or very close to door 40 and traction is then applied by a slight bending of the knees until the patient is in a position short of a sitting position at which time the back will normally assume a curved position due to moving the head forward towards the door. in fact, the knees of the patient may actually touch the door when the traction device is in use. Using this technique two minute intervals of a pull of 60 or 70 pounds is attainable without any strain on the part ofthe patient. Once the webbing members 27 and 28 have been set for the proper length, no further adjustment is generally required. It has also been found that in place of wedges 35 and 36 and the slots 32 and 33 into which they are inserted, a pair of buckles may be used or some other suitable fastener to properly set the length of the 'webbing members. It will also be observed that the triangular stitching 21 between loading straps 13 and 14 and dorsal member 20 facilitates moving the inner edge one closest to the neck) of chin member 12 upwardly so that chin member 12 assumes more of a vertical position and thus permits an easier insertion of the head into the harness.

The transverse bar 34 and the load spacing crossbar 23 may be formed from hard wood approximately 1.25 inches in diameter or other suitable materials, perferably of rather light weight and having good strength characteristics. The circular cross section has proven to provide good operability and works particularly well with the D-rings or clevis members 17 and 18 which should have some pivotal qualities where they engage load spacing crossbar 23. The clevis members are formed from 0.25 inch steel rod and are approximately 5.50 inches in length on each side and approximately 4.50 inches in length at the base, the base legs overlapping as described previously. The harness members are formed from the material previously described having widths of approximately 2.75 to 3.00 inches.

While there has been shown and described what is at present considered to be the preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be apparent that various modifications and changes may bemade thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is: v

1. A cervical spine traction apparatus for use with a door and its upper frame comprising:

a. a rigid load spacing crossbar having a pair of clevis members spatially disposed andsecured in loose fitting arrangement to said load spacing crossbar substantially fourteen inches from each other, said clevis members having overlapping base members spatially disposed from each otherto admit and release loops at the end of a pair of loading straps within .said clevis members thereby dividing the load substantially evenly between said loading straps;

b. a harness having a chin member adapted to fit under the chin of the patient using said harness and terminating in a pair of vertically extending loading straps having a pair of loops formed at the ends thereof slidable between said overlapping base members to be operably disposed over said overlapping base members, and having a dorsal member secured at each end thereof by stitching to said pair of loading straps and adapted to engage the sub-occipital bone region of the head thereby distributing any load supplied to said loading straps, said chin and dorsal members upon being applied to the head of a patient and extending upwardly and outwardly in contact free relationship with the upper region of the head and being formed from reinforced cotton felt material having widths of approximately 2.75 to 3.00 inches, said stitching forming a triangular pattern having sides at the top and forward edges of the'ends of said dorsal member thereby freeing the opposite edges to aid in deforming said dorsal member to the shape of the head of the patient;

. a releasable fastener secured transversely in said dorsal member, said releasable fastener opening and permitting ready insertion of the head of the patient between said chin member and said dorsal member and closing and securing said dorsal memher in operable position,

d. a pair of load bearing webbing members secured to said load spacing crossbar in substantially parallel and spatially disclosed relationship adjacent to said clevis members, said webbing members being adapted to lie flat between the upper edge of a door upper face of the door opposite that of said harness and its mating frame while the door is closed; and when a predominately vertical load is applied to e. a transverse bar releasably secured to said pair of said pair of webbing members and loading straps.

webbing members and adapted to bear against the 

1. A cervical spine traction apparatus for use with a door and its upper frame comprising: a. a rigid load spacing crossbar having a pair of clevis members spatially disposed and secured in loose fitting arrangement to said load spacing crossbar substantially fourteen inches from each other, said clevis members having overlapping base members spatially disposed from each other to admit and release loops at the end of a pair of loading straps within said clevis members thereby dividing the load substantially evenly between said loading straps; b. a harness having a chin member adapted to fit under the chin of the patient using said harness and terminating in a pair of vertically extending loading straps having a pair of loops formed at the ends thereof slidable between said overlapping base members to be operably disposed over said overlapping base members, and having a dorsal member secured at each end thereof by stitching to said pair of loading straps and adapted to engage the sub-occipital bone region of the head thereby distributing any load supplied to said loading straps, said chin and dorsal members upon being applied to the head of a patient and extending upwardly and outwardly in contact free relationship with the upper region of the head and being formed from reinforced cotton felt material having widths of approximately 2.75 to 3.00 inches, said stitching forming a triangular pattern having sides at the top and forward edges of the ends of said dorsal member thereby freeing the opposite edges to aid in deforming said dorsal member to the shape of the head of the patient; c. a releasable fastener secured transversely in said dorsal member, said releasable fastener opening and permitting ready insertion of the head of the patient between said chin member and said dorsal member and closing and securing said dorsal member in operable position, d. a pair of load bearing webbing members secured to said load spacing crossbar in substantially parallel and spatially disposed relationship adjacent to said clevis members, said webbing members being adapted to lie flat between the upper edge of a door and its mating frame while the door is closed; and e. a transverse bar releasably secured to said pair of webbing members and adapted to bear against the upper face of the door opposite that of said harness when a predominately vertical load is applied to said pair of webbing members and loading straps. 